HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Interpretive Summary Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bach, A. Articles by Ahedo, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bach, A. Articles by Ahedo, J.

Effects of Physical Form of a Starter for Dairy Replacement Calves on Feed Intake and Performance

A. Bach^*,,1, A. Giménez, J. L. Juaristi and J. Ahedo

^* Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain
Grup de Recerca en Nutrició, Maneig, i Benestar Animal, Unitat de Remugants, Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
Rancho Las Nieves, 50550 Mallén, Spain

¹ Corresponding author: alex.bach{at}irta.es

One hundred six female Holstein calves [body weight (BW) = 41.5 ± 0.37 kg and 11.2 ± 0.3 d old] were used to evaluate the effects of physical form of a starter on animal performance and starter intake. Calves were randomly allocated to 2 treatments consisting of either a multiparticle or a pelleted starter. Both starters had exactly the same ingredient and nutrient composition but differed in their physical form. Calves received 4 L/d of the same milk replacer at a 150 g/kg dilution rate in 2 offers of 2 L each until they consumed an average of 300 g/d of starter (as fed) for 2 consecutive days; then the dilution rate was decreased to 120 g/kg until the age of 49 d when milk replacer was limited to 1 daily dose of 2 L until 57 d of age. Calves were kept in individual hutches for at least 1 wk after weaning. Body weight was measured at the beginning of the study and at 49 and 64 d of age. The median perimeters for the multiparticle and pelleted starters were 0.61 ± 0.016 and 2.71 ± 0.082 cm, respectively. Overall starter consumption was greater in calves receiving the multiparticle starter (944.8 ± 30.01 g/d) than in those receiving the pelleted starter (863.9 ± 32.04 g/d). There were no differences in the total milk replacer intake between the 2 treatments. Calf BW when leaving the individual hutches at the end of the study was similar between both treatments. Consequently, feed conversion efficiency was greater in calves consuming the pelleted than the multiparticle starter up to 64 d of age, mainly due to the greater conversion efficiency obtained with the pelleted than with the multiparticle starter after the preweaning period. It is concluded that pelleted starters may result in lower dry feed consumption compared with multiparticle starters, but because final BW was similar in both treatments, feed efficiency of calves consuming pelleted starters may be greater than that of calves consuming multiparticle starters. Therefore, when feeding a starter with similar nutrient composition to the one used in this study, there seems to be an economic advantage associated with feeding the starter in a pelleted form compared with a multiparticle form.

Key Words: calf • particle size • average daily gain

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. F. Kertz Letter to the Editor: Pelleted Calf Starter with Straw Access Can Confound Results: A Comment on Bach et al. (2007) J Dairy Sci, November 1, 2007; 90(11): 4924 - 4924. [Full Text] [PDF]